- Actors: Jimmy Smits, Marg Helgenberger, John Ashton, Allyce Beasley, Robert Carradine
- Directors: John Power
- Writers: Lawrence D. Cohen, Stephen King
- Producers: Frank Konigsberg, Jane Scott, Jayne Bieber, Larry Sanitsky, Lawrence D. Cohen
- Format: NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Subtitles: Spanish, French
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Lions Gate
- Release Date: Sep 9 1998
- Run Time: 181 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 1573624098
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Product Description
From Amazon.com
The Tommyknockers is a TV miniseries based on Stephen King's 1987 novel. An alien spacecraft has been buried beneath the Burning Woods near the small rural New England community of Haven for millions of years, but has now by chance been unearthed by Bobbi (Marg Helgenberger) while digging around in the woods behind her house. The structure in the woods begins to exert a glowing-green influence on the town, causing the people to invent Rube Goldberg-like gizmos, develop the gift of telepathy, lose their teeth, and form a hive-mind mentality bent on digging up the ship and revivifying the desiccated aliens within. Luckily, Bobbi's significant other is an alcoholic poet (Jimmy Smits) who needs to learn to face his fears. He also has a metal plate in his head that prevents the hive-minders from reading his thoughts and makes him immune to the neon-green influence of the aliens. Ultimately, it's up to him to save the day. Although the acting is topnotch, especially from Smits and Helgenberger, and there are plenty of gooseflesh moments, there are also enough plot holes here to fuel a very long and enjoyable evening's conversation. Why do the aliens start in at this time, when they've been causing legends in the woods for ages? Where does an alien ship buried for ages get all that dry ice? How does the Smits character make a living as a poet? One suspects that King's fine sense of New England characterizations is given short shrift here, and that the woods in his mind teem with more alien thoughts than the TV miniseries form could embody. Welcome appearances by congenial actors abound, notably Joanna Cassidy, E.G. Marshall and Robert Carradine. And there's a slutty postal letter-carrier played authentically by Traci Lords. --Jim Gay
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor description,
By
This review is from: The Tommyknockers (DVD)
I do not like the dvd because it has two discs part one and part two, If I knew this in first place I would not have purchased it
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Tommyknockers (1993),
By Clob Lane (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tommyknockers (VHS Tape)
Above-average Stephen King telechiller adapted from his novel by Lawrence D. Cohen, about a town whose people become alien mutates who are possessed by aliens still in a buried spaceship, who force the townspeople on a mission to uncover the ship from the ground in the woods surrounding the town. The acting in this film is excellent, most notably from Marg Helgenberger and Jimmy Smits. The special effects (for a TV movie) are superb and the aliens look unbelievably eerie, and the usage of the green light is often effective too. The plot is not exactly the most original, but the way it's captured in this miniseries is most refreshing and riveting. The music score is standard horror movie fare, but it is quite suitable for the film and adds tension and atmosphere. There isn't really anything wrong with this movie except that the story is, like I said, not the most highly original and the narrative is kind of slow. However, it is a spine-tingling tale of horror and shouldn't be missed by serious Stephen King fans, or sci-fi/horror fans for that matter. THE TOMMYKNOCKERS is also home to one of the most chilling shots in horror history (which plays just after the opening credits end) when Helgenberger turns around in the woods with the hood up and we see her as one of the mutates. *shivers*
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alien Savants Run Amok!,
By Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Tommyknockers (DVD)
The book and the miniseries differ, but both are quite good. For the jaded veterans among you, it's essentially Five Million Years to Earth, served up a la King.Marg Helgenberger trips over an ancient flying saucer in the woods one day while walking her dog, and decides it might make a nice private playground centerpiece if dug out and spiffied-up a bit. She starts experiencing a creative psychic brain-boost during the lengthy process, which is shared by a few of the nearby townsfolk. Her old lover, Jimmy Smits, however, an alcoholic poet of some former reputation with a metal plate in his skull, is left cold by Marg's new pet project - the saucer gives him a headache, literally. Pretty soon, the nearby isolated small town begins splitting-up into two factions - those who are sympatico with the saucer's psychic space-vibes, and those who aren't. Those who are become inventive geniuses, and those who aren't start more and more looking like dinner. Only Jimmy Smits is sufficiently immune to the nasty thing to exercise his presence of mind, and somehow stop the saucer and its long-mummified occupants from revitalizing themselves off Marg and the other infected townsfolk. This is a very handsomely produced piece, and sufficiently close to Stephen King's original novel that the changes made in the script - which are only done to simplify (and under-grue) the action, and allow a little alien activity - are more welcome than not. The cast are all terrific, especially leads Helgenberger and Smits. Helgenberger's transformation due to her dangerous alien exposure is nicely counterpointed with Smits' alcoholism, the saucer's influence acting like a drug to those who respond to its emanations. The special effects are great, and the inclusion of the revitalized aliens on the saucer in the finale is a nice touch - they're pretty cool, really. The suspense works well. The only real flaw with this piece is a bit too much padding, but the same can be said of most of Stephen King's work in general, and certainly this production has less of it than the novel on which it is based.
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